Here are 100 books that Acetaria fans have personally recommended if you like
Acetaria.
Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.
I was first exposed to Western literature when working as a teenage farm worker in the jungle of south Yunnan decades ago and have kept my interest alive ever since. As an undergraduate at Peking University, I majored in English and American language and literature before I switched to the study of Chinese archaeology and history at the graduate level. Over the last three decades and more, I have been teaching Chinese and World history and doing research on Chinese history at a US university. In addition to dozens of articles, I have published several books both in English and Chinese, all on premodern China with a focus on the Sui-Tang period.
This book examines the exotics imported into China during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) and depicts their influence on Chinese life. During the three centuries of Tang came into the land the natives of almost every nation of Asia, all bringing exotic wares either as gifts or as goods to be sold. Ivory, rare woods, drugs, diamonds, magicians, dancing girls—the author covers all classes of unusual imports, their places of origin, their lore,their effect on fashion, dwellings, diet, painting, sculpture, music, and poetry.
This book is for students of Tang culture and laymen interested in the same topic. Its author Edward Schafer was an eminent American sinologist.
In the seventh century the kingdom of Samarkand sent formal gifts of fancy yellow peaches, large as goose eggs and with a color like gold, to the Chinese court at Ch'ang-an. What kind of fruit these golden peaches really were cannot now be guessed, but they have the glamour of mystery, and they symbolize all the exotic things longed for, and unknown things hoped for, by the people of the T'ang empire. This book examines the exotics imported into China during the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), and depicts their influence on Chinese life. Into the land during the three centuries…
I have published 21 books, with three more on the way, and many deal with my kitchen garden at Roughwood and the massive seed collection started by my grandfather in 1932. Many of my books have won awards and several of them, especially Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, have become “breakthrough” texts in that they have shifted the conversation in a new direction. In short, I have helped make mainstream heritage fruits and vegetables, and my books are intended to help my readers enrich their lives by giving them meaning and context. It’s a story about learning to live well from simple basics: about discovering the gold in your own backyard.
The objective of Ross’s book was to teach the English how to cook vegetables the Italian way (as opposed to boiling them to shreds). But this is also a romantic fling with the Mediterranean way of life and moving through it at a more humanizing pace. Ross also includes recipes, the part I like most, and like her, I also include recipes because if you are going through the trouble of growing your own food as an experiment in living a better way, come harvest time, it is important to know what to do with them. That should be the spiritual and culinary reward because it all comes together at the table.
Excerpt from Leaves From Our Tuscan KitchenAbout the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books.This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. This text has been…
I have published 21 books, with three more on the way, and many deal with my kitchen garden at Roughwood and the massive seed collection started by my grandfather in 1932. Many of my books have won awards and several of them, especially Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, have become “breakthrough” texts in that they have shifted the conversation in a new direction. In short, I have helped make mainstream heritage fruits and vegetables, and my books are intended to help my readers enrich their lives by giving them meaning and context. It’s a story about learning to live well from simple basics: about discovering the gold in your own backyard.
I have all of Jane Grigson’s books and to me each one is special. Jane was a personal friend and while she lived in the UK and I lived in the US we often spent hours on the telephone discussing the finer points of pawpaws or persimmons. We also shared the same birthday. Jane discovered she had cancer and decided to meet it head-on by shifting to a plant-based diet. That is her overarching philosophy, and it pervades her books. And while her books reflect that personal journey toward healing, they are also useful because like me she was an epicure with hoe, her food writing was not an abstraction, she wrote from hands-on experience.
In Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book American readers, gardeners, and food lovers will find everything they've always wanted to know about the history and romance of seventy-five different vegetables, from artichokes to yams, and will learn how to use them in hundreds of different recipes, from the exquisitely simple ""Broccoli Salad"" to the engagingly esoteric ""Game with Tomato and Chocolate Sauce."" Jane Grigson gives basic preparation and cooking instructions for all the vegetables discussed and recipes for eating them in every style from least adulterated to most adorned. This is by no means a book intended for vegetarians alone, however. There…
I have published 21 books, with three more on the way, and many deal with my kitchen garden at Roughwood and the massive seed collection started by my grandfather in 1932. Many of my books have won awards and several of them, especially Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, have become “breakthrough” texts in that they have shifted the conversation in a new direction. In short, I have helped make mainstream heritage fruits and vegetables, and my books are intended to help my readers enrich their lives by giving them meaning and context. It’s a story about learning to live well from simple basics: about discovering the gold in your own backyard.
Genders and Jane Grigson were kindred spirits, although Genders started out much earlier than Jane Grigson. I have all his books mainly because he deals with the unusual and enjoyed the challenge of trying something new (or in the case of rare heirlooms something old and forgotten). Genders’ books are practical guidebooks, so much so that they never go out of date. Serious cooks and gardeners keep his books close at hand because when you are stumped, just look it up in Genders: he will walk you through the problem. And not the least, he understood the meaning of freshness and flavor. He was a culinarian with a spade in hand.
I am a cookbook author, editor, local food enthusiast, and the creator of the blog Thursday Night Pizza, where I share weekly recipes and de-snobbify the process of from-scratch pizza for home cooks of all skill levels. When I’m not in the kitchen or behind my computer, I enjoy gardening, working on house projects, tending to my Little Free Library, and roaming my city of Philadelphia with my husband and son.
Lahey is another pizza sage I refer to often. His no-knead pizza dough is a revelation, and his composed pizza recipes are at once simple and mind blowing.
Make homemade pizza that exceeds your wildest expectations—yet couldn’t be simpler—with Jim Lahey’s groundbreaking no-knead dough and inventive toppings.
Jim Lahey, the baking genius behind New York City’s celebrated Sullivan Street Bakery and Co. pizza restaurant, has developed a brilliant recipe that requires no kneading and produces an irresistible crust in any home oven—gas or electric—in fewer than five minutes. The secret to incredible pizza is a superb crust—one that is crisp yet chewy, and slightly charred around the edges. My Pizza shares this revolutionary technique and the creative pies that put Co. on the map, as well as recipes…
I wrote my first mystery in second grade, thinking I was writing a page-turning thriller when in reality I penned a sweet, little cozy where everything turns out okay in the end and everyone always has a cup of hot chocolate and a vanilla cookie in hand. Somehow, I’ve managed to turn my love of baking and writing into a long-term career. With over 30 mysteries and counting I’m not sure if I’m going to run out of recipes or ways to kill someone off first.
I dare you to read this book and not end up a teary, blubbering mess, in the best possible way. Kitchens of the Great Midwest is one of those stories that transported and transformed me. I never knew I needed to spend an afternoon in Minnesota learning how to prepare lutefisk, but after reading this book I can say without hesitation that my life is infinitely better for having done so. This brilliant feast of fiction centers around a young chef Eva who reconnects with her Midwest roots on her quest to find herself and her family in her food. It’s a coming-of-age story intertwined with characters, ingredients, and flavors that simmer together beautifully.
“An impressive feat of narrative jujitsu . . . that keeps readers turning the pages too fast to realize just how ingenious they are.”—The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Pick
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Lager Queen of Minnesota, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a novel about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country’s most coveted dinner reservation.
When Lars Thorvald’s wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine—and a dashing sommelier—he’s left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own.…
I’ve been a fan of vegetables as long as I can remember, I went plant-based as a young girl and have never looked back. I love to celebrate vegetables in their wholesome, vibrant goodness and put them at the center of your diet. I love nothing more than pairing different flavours and textures to create feel-good food that tastes as good as it does for you and the planet. I have been running my blog – Rebel Recipes for over 6 years and have four plant-based cookbooks with fans from across the globe!
This chunky and vibrant book by Alice Zaslavsky is going to make you put vegetables at the center of your plate! With over 150 recipes plus information about flavour combinations, rule-of-thumb buying/storing/cooking methods, shortcuts. It’s really inspiring and informative and will help you re-think how you structure meals. One not to be missed.
For fans of Samin Nosrat, Anna Jones and Stephanie Alexander, the ultimate veg guide for food lovers
'Alice Zaslavsky is a force of nature!' Nigella Lawson
The definitive guide to making vegetables the centre of the plate.
In this comprehensive and fully illustrated kitchen companion, food writer and presenter Alice Zaslavsky profiles 50 favourite vegetable varieties, offering 150+ recipes reflective of both tradition and modernity, just as all good cooking should be. Uniquely organised by colour and filled with countless tips on flavour combinations, rule-of-thumb buying/storing/cooking methods, shortcuts, and veg wisdom from over 50 of the world's top chefs, In…
Growing up as an Asian girl in the UK has its ups and downs. I was bullied at school but sought solace in cooking and learning from my mother about Indian cuisine. Now in my adult life, I’ve been awarded the British Empire Medal for cooking services to the community during the pandemic. A straightforward approach to cuisine has won me fans globally and a TV series broadcast to over 80 million viewers cooking British dishes for an Indian audience. After writing 6 books on the subject of easy cooking, I hope you like the choices on my very personal list which are dog-eared and spice stained with overuse and love.
It’s an interesting cookbook concept because it has been aimed at the Indian market where the summers are extremely hot and one would feel less inclined to spend long hours over a hot stove in the kitchen. However, the recipes include cooling dishes using seasonal fruits and vegetables but with an Indian twist. My favourite is the non alcoholic Party Punch which uses Indian oranges and chikoos which look like potatoes but have a soft brown edible flesh.
Summer cookery is a collection of recipes designed specially to help you cook and keep cool through the hottest months of the year. Simple, practical, with a minimum of fussy procedures, the menu card includes thirst-quenchers, unusually flavoured vegetables, simply cooked meats and surprisingly easy desserts, featuring fruits, ice-creams and jellies. There is a special selection of chutneys and pickles to enhance any menu....
I’ve been writing vegetarian cookbooks for almost 15 years, and have had many different jobs in the world of food – cooking in restaurants, running a small food business, working food photography shoots, and much more. While in my day-to-day eating, I go on and off following a strict plant-based diet, it’s long been my default style of eating because I find it to be so healthy, affordable, and fun! I’m never not excited and inspired by the abundance and diversity of vegetables and the incredible techniques and dishes that cuisines around the world have done with them.
When I was a young cook, I picked up my copy of this opus from a neighbor’s stoop sale, and it immediately became one of my most valued possessions. I’d go to the farmer’s market, buy a vegetable I didn’t recognize, and then back at home consult this, my vegetable bible, for how I should cook it. It has never steered me wrong and 20 years later, I still find new things to learn from it and am always in awe of Deborah Madison’s prescient wisdom on the subject of how to thoughtfully shop, cook, eat, and live. It’s warmly written and exhaustive in its scope – as much of a reference as it is a practical cookbook for regular use.
What Julia Child is to French cooking and Marcella Hazan is to Italian cooking, Deborah Madison is to contemporary vegetarian cooking. At Greens restaurant in San Francisco, where she was the founding chef, and in her two acclaimed vegetarian cookbooks, Madison elevated vegetarian cooking to new heights of sophistication, introducing many people to the joy of cooking without meat, whether occasionally or for a lifetime. But after her many years as a teacher and writer, she realized that there was no comprehensive primer for vegetarian cooking, no single book that taught vegetarians basic cooking techniques, how to combine ingredients, and…
I grew up in a family of chefs and restaurant owners, so it’s probably no surprise that food plays a major role in my debut novel, All Stirred Up. (The two main characters are, in fact, chefs and restaurant owners. You write what you know!) Cooking plays a major part in my life as well—I’m always making something for family and loved ones. It’s probably no surprise that I love a good food book as well, whether it be fiction, memoir, or history. On my list are just five of my favourites.
I like to branch out into different genres, and I’ve recently started getting into Manga. This is a really wonderful series about a gay couple—one of whom loves to try out new dishes the other is always eager to try—whose relationship deepens over the meals they enjoy together. It’s something that really touched a chord in me, as someone who also uses food as a love language.
From award-winning author Fumi Yoshinaga comes a casual romance between two middle-aged men and the many meals they share together.
A hard-working middle-aged gay couple in Tokyo come to enjoy the finer moments of life through food. After long days at work, either in the law firm or the hair salon, Shiro and Kenji will always have down time together by the dinner table, where they can discuss their troubles, hash out their feelings and enjoy delicately prepared home cooked meals!
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
vegetables,
weeds,
and
cooking.
![Book cover of Power Plates: 100 Nutritionally Balanced, One-Dish Vegan Meals [A Cookbook]](https://res.cloudinary.com/hzpwrwfdi/image/upload/w_220/media/covers/9780399579059_s5nuqb.webp "Book cover of Power Plates: 100 Nutritionally Balanced, One-Dish Vegan Meals [A Cookbook]")
